First American (comics)

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First American
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Publication information
Publisher	America's Best Comics
First appearance	Tomorrow Stories #1 (August 1999)
Created by	Alan Moore and Jim Baikie
In story information
Abilities	None. Probably below average human physical/mental capabilities

First American is a fictional character, a satirical superhero created by Alan Moore with Jim Baikie for his Wildstorm imprint America's Best Comics, appearing in the anthology series Tomorrow Stories. The First American's first appearance was in Tomorrow Stories #1 (August 1999), although he had a brief cameo in the earlier "mini-comic" given away free with an issue of Wizard Magazine (later reprinted in America's Best Comics 64-Page Giant). He appeared in every issue of the comic as well as in an original story in one of the two 64-Page Giants with art by Sergio Aragonés.

[edit] Fictional character biography

The First American is a slightly overweight middle-aged man who, despite his claims, has no superhuman powers. Given his incompetence, he demonstrates below average physical abilities. His sidekick, the U.S. Angel or Joanie Jupiter, is a promiscuous young starlet (and former stripper) who greatly dislikes the First American and dreams of replacing him as "The Next American."

The tag line of the stories claim that he and U.S. Angel were "genetically engineered today for our nation's tomorrow." However a definitive origin or biography is difficult to piece together given the satirical nature of the his stories and the fact that his incompetence borders on mental illness. In the 64-Page Giant it is shown that he is not the first First American, with ancestors/namesakes dating back to Christopher Columbus discovering America. According to his own muddled origin story he was born to a poor family somewhere in America during the Great Depression. He gained his powers through a series of bizarre events (a convoluted parody of the origins of Superman, Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Batman, the Hulk, Daredevil, and others). Despite the paradox this presents F.A. also claims to be directly or indirectly responsible for all the major historical events of the 20th century.